


Maelstrom of Emotions

by freaking_witchy



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: F/M, Healing, Interspecies Romance, Lucifer Redemption, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:20:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23923747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freaking_witchy/pseuds/freaking_witchy
Summary: Shizuka Lovegood had never experienced anything good for someone of her age. She had been through so many things, yearning for at least someone who can understand her and heal her from her constant pain. When she enrolled to the True Cross Academy and joined the rest of the students to study as exorcists, she really never thought, her presence would attract the most unexpected character to come into her life: the most dangerous of the Demon Kings.Based on the rp with @blue-exorcist-junkie, a friend of mine and a fellow writer. Katrina Groves and Emilia Groves belongs to @blue-exorcist-junkie. Will contain triggering themes and explicit scenes.
Relationships: Lucifer (Ao no Exorcist)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. A New Beginning

It was a breezy Monday morning. Not too cold, but not too warm at the same time; the current season was changing from spring to summer.

A red haired girl was still fast asleep in her bed. She wore a pajamas with crescent moon design on it. A purple blanket was wrapped around her petite figure.

Then, a tall woman stood near bed. “Shizuka-chan, wake up, dear.”

The girl stirred. “Please, leave me be, Artemis. I still want to sleep.”

“But... do you know? Now it’s 8 am”, she informed her with a mischievous smirk on her face.

Shizuka immediately opened her eyes wide. “What? Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?!” She quickly got up and made her way to the bathroom, until she realized something. Wait a minute! Doesn’t this a bit too sooner for morning? The girl checked her alarm, and it’s still 5:45 am. “Artemis, that’s not a funny joke at all! Really? God, I’m still sleepy!”

The woman laughed. “Hahaha, sorry dear, but you need to get up early. Besides, isn’t this your first day of school?”

Shizuka buried her face behind the pillows and groaned. For the love of the gods, why did she reminded her of that? “Don’t disturb me Artemis, please. I still want to sleep, for Christ’s sake!”

Artemis clicked her tongue in disapproval. This girl and her bad habitual of sleeping, especially in school days. It’s nothing new to her. “Shizuka, you can’t always act like this. Come on, your parents are waiting downstairs. Do you prefer Hecate to wake you up?”

She shot her eyes open again. Great, the mentioning of the goddess of magic succeeded in making her lost her sleepiness. No, also added to that, it made her headache was coming as well. Hecate would defitinitely be displeased with her childish attitude.  
“Fine, fine. I’ll get up. But don’t tell her about what happened here.”

Artemis only shrugged her shoulders while watching her get to the bathroom and cleaned herself up. Shizuka only grumbled while she wore her new uniform, about the disturbance of her morning routine with the moon goddess waking her in the early morning; something that she absolutely hated.

She went downstairs, meeting her mother who had prepared her breakfast for her only child. Her father was reading a newspaper, sitting not too far from his wife. 

“Morning, Shizuka-chan.”

“Morning”, she replied and yawning.

“I see you are still sleepy”, her mother giggled at Shizuka.

“A bit. Artemis got me awake so early. She really likes to see me thrashing up and about in the morning. Damn, I got a headache, thanks to her”, she glared at the moon goddess, who only smiled knowingly. “What, Artemis?”

“I would like to eat as well”, she blinked her eyes in a very familiar way to Shizuka.

The girl sighed. Great. “My offering for you is on the altar. You know, the usual place in my room, near my window.”

Artemis grinned in gratitude and the girl could only shake her head as she witnessed the old deity went back upstairs to eat.

This is Shizuka Lovegood. A girl with regular day basis; for example: going to school, studying, and other similar stuff. Like other girls her age, she was just trying to go through her days smoothly. Well, except she lived not only with her parents. She was also surrounded by the spirits that has been guarding her since the day she came into this world.

“Well, the news nowadays is not really uplifting my spirit”, her father commented on the newspaper he was reading.

“What is it, Simon?”, his wife questioned.

Simon answered, “Demons are starting to get more active. They are usually active on nights, but people have testified that they saw odd occurrences, all over the world. Japan is also no exception. What do you think, Keiko?”

“Don’t worry too much. We have many spirits like Hecate, Artemis and the others to protect us. Not to mention, I heard in this city, an important person called Mephisto Pheles has created many barriers to protect us”, Keiko tried to reassure her husband.

Shizuka went still at the mention of demons. Those beings… they have been bothering her since she was a little. “Mom, tell me the reason why did we move here again?”

“Shizuka-chan, I thought we have talked about this before we move from Tokyo to this place.”

“I know Mom, but still I prefer Tokyo. Besides, don’t you think this is getting too troublesome? True Cross Campus Town is a city within city in this country. I’m tired with us constantly moving.”

Keiko sighed in desperation. Their only daughter can be a little stubborn sometimes, even when they have tried to explain their circumstance to her in the best way possible. ‘Shizuka-chan, we moved here because your father has been sent by his boss in order to continue his work.”

She formed a thin line on her mouth. “Isn’t it because we don’t have anything left for us there in Tokyo?”

“Shizuka Lovegood, no bad mouthing on the table! Just finish your breakfast, dear”, Simon rebuffed her.

“Dad, no matter where we go, we almost never accepted by the neighbors.”

“I know our family is unconventional, but at least wherever we are, we never made any problems, right? Shizuka, I know that moving to places tires you, but please, give this town a chance.”

“How can I know that people here would accept us? In our old neighborhood, they always spread gossips about us witches.”

“Indeed, but in the end, some of our neighbors were asking for our help, right? Shizuka, you need to solve your issue with trusting people”, Simon advised his little girl gently.

‘I know Dad, sorry for that. I didn’t mean to act so unbecoming. I… I just hate what those kids had done to me. It’s not my fault I was born this way.”

Keiko went to where she sat. “Shizuka-chan, we heard in the academy, there’s a cram school that trains people with your abilities to be an exorcist. Why don’t you try?”

Her curiosity piqued. “Wait, exorcists?”

“Yeah. Your ability as a witch in our family can be useful, Shizuka-chan! It’s time for you to use your powers to help people in need.”

“I don’t know. Sounds dangerous”, her voice hinted uncertainty.

“Shizuka-chan, we don’t mind if you want to try. You always told us that you want to make a difference. Why don’t you try by becoming an exorcist?”

Shizuka was still a bit doubtful, but the sound of working as an exorcist was promising. She nodded.


	2. First Day of School

It took Shizuka and her parents around half an hour to arrive in the academy. Her parents decided to accompany her to see how the school looks like, and the place wasn’t like what they were expected. The school area was huge! Wherever they walked, the luxurious designs of the rooms were apparent. Shizuka could see it; this school was meant for rich people. Heck, this school even provided elevators and vending machines!

They walked to the headmaster’s room, which turned out to be not too far from the school. The office itself was located in a mansion.

Simon knocked on the mansion’s door, and a tall man showed up to open the door. “Excuse us, is this the residence of the headmaster?”

“Yes, my master has been expecting for you. My name is Belial, and I am his butler. I will take you to him.”

Shizuka mused inside her mind. This man… had the name of a demon? She frowned, but not making any questions.

The butler took them to the office, and they saw a man with unusual appearance. He sat on his desk in a relaxed position. “Ah, you must be the new student!”

“Yes”, Shizuka nodded. He gestured them to take their seats. “I guess you’re the headmaster of this institution?”

“The one and only! You can call me Mephisto Pheles”, he grinned at her and her parents.

The three exchanged glances. So this was the man who they have heard so much about. Shizuka furrowed her brows at him, and Mephisto’s grin deepened. This man… was peculiar. Not just his outfit… but there’s something odd about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“So, I heard that you have just moved here, to this city. What a long way, straight from the capital!”, Mephisto started talking and offered some tea and cookies to them.

“We did, but we are following my husband. He got summoned here by his new boss to start his job again”, Keiko answered him shortly.

“Oh? What is your occupation, Mr. Lovegood?”

“I’m an accountant, Sir Pheles. We are also opening an herb store in our house.”

“Ah, interesting! We have an Exorcist store here that also sells herbs and other necessities as well, called Futsumaya, located not too far from the cram school. I’m sure you will notice it soon enough, Shizuka-chan”, Mephisto grinned at the girl, and it got her feeling a bit curious.

Mephisto's gaze on her got her shivered. His stare at her was so deep. It felt like... he could see straight to her soul. This was crazy! But at the same time, to her this man was a force to be reckon with. Looks like he had some sort of power that made him intimidating. She gotta be careful with this.

"Alright, let's get to the important part. As you can see, this institution is a boarding school. Means, your daughter would have to stay here in one of our dorms", he crossed his legs and looked at her parents.

"Can't she get home to us every day after her classes are over, like those in the other schools do?", Keiko looked at Shizuka in concern.

"Unfortunately she can't, Ma'am. As you have already know, we also provided a cram school for those who wants to be exorcists, so she must stay here. But not to worry, she could visit you when she has asked for my permission beforehand", he smiled at them, then looked at the papers. "From the form, I see that... you want to be an exorcist, Miss Lovegood?"

"Yes."

"What a brave decision. But, being an exorcist require so much work. Is that alright for you? Not to mention, you will also have so many responsibilities waiting once you have becoming one."

"I have been thinking about it, and already made my decision. I don't mind. After all, I want to make a difference", she replied simply, not once turned her eyes from Mephisto. What surprised her, she saw his... toothy grin.

"I see. That's good!"

Her parents stared at their only daughter in worry once they were out of the office.

"Mom, Dad, it's okay. I'll be fine with staying here."

"Are you sure, sweetie? We just want you to be happy."

"You told me to give this place and this city a chance, and that's what I'm going to do. If anything happens, I'll let you know. I promise I'll call home every weekend and whenever anything important occurs. I will also visit you during holidays", she hugged them. They nodded and left her through the gate.

Shizuka looked at the school map and walked herself to the school yard. The place was crowded to say the least. As usual, as she walked towards her classroom for her first regular classes, many people were staring at her. She heard some of the students were laughing at her vibrant hair color. The others were looking at her with suspicion. She had already used with it, and got straight to her seat for preparing to study.

After the classes were done, she received a message. It's from Mephisto.

Hello my lady! I believe I promise to take you to your class in cram school, am I correct? If you are finished with your regular schedule, please meet me at the school yard and I will show you the way to your class!

She went to the school yard, but saw no one. The yard itself was almost empty, except some janitors who were cleaning up the place. Then she looked down at her feet, and saw a dog with a scarf on its neck. Oddly, there was a pin of True Cross Order on its neck embedded to it. "Well now, if this is not surprising me at all today. At first, I saw two men who have the names of demons, and now... a peculiar looking animal. I can already tell you are not regular dog, are you?"

"As expected from a witch! One as young as yourself show great promise at this prestigious school!", it suddenly turned into the figure she never thought would see in his dramatic flair : Mephisto. The sudden appearance of the headmaster stunned her, it caused her to fall to the ground.

She widened her eyes. "You know who I am?!"

"It's my business to know who enrolls into my school. In that case let's go. Oh, before I forgot, take this!", he poofed a key that was suddenly apparing on her palm. "Keep that key safe with you, and bring it with you at all times. With that key, you will be able to move from your regular class to the cram school!"

She used the key she received from Mephisto and rewarded by the grand interior before her. He smirked at her over his shoulder as he walked. Meanwhile, she raised her eyebrow at him, musing of the event she saw today. This man...

"I do have suspicion about you since we entered your room. You are a demon, and a high level of that. Is that right?"

"Indeed I am!", he turned and bowed to her, walking backwards as he did so. "Samael, King of Time and Space, but please, in public, refer to me as Mr. Faust~"

Now she stuttered. What the hell?! She had seen many beings all her life, but this..?! "A... A Demon King?! I have heard many things about you, Samael-sama!"

He smirked devilishly and turned back around. "I don't doubt it!"

"What baffles me is knowing that you are also an exorcist. But I should have known. I have learned that some demons are sided with humans."

"Yes, but that can wait for another day. Your classes will begin soon, but with how long now time has passed, I suggest you hop to it young lady! After all, we have arrived!", he left her at the door to her new homeroom for cram school and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

She entered her classroom, and she saw that her friends are already present. On the teacher's desk, a briefcase was already put. She was surprised to see a boy with... pointed ears like Mephisto, but decided not to ask about it. "Uh... I guess this is one of the classes for cram school?"

The trio in the corner just eyed her while a girl with pigtails ignored her in favor of her book. The pointy eared boy sat next to a blonde girl and a young boy fusses with his puppet. Another young red haired girl was trying to finish what looked like an assignment and a hooded figure was... playing his Nintendo DS.

Shizuka was surprised to see Yukio was behind her.

"Please take your seat, Ms. Lovegood. The class will be continued shortly", Yukio told her as he brought more equipments and put it on his desk.

She decided to sit next to the kid with puppet on his hand, knowing the seat is full. He ignored her, and continued sewing his puppet, only putting it down once Yukio continued the class.

Yukio decided to introducing her to the class. "Oh, everyone, you have a new classmate who will be joining us today. I have heard about her reason for being a little late from Sir Pheles. The one who is sitting next to Takara-san is Shizuka Lovegood. She had just moved this recently from Tokyo. I expect you all to treat her in kind."

Shizuka stood when he introduced her. Then he went on to teach demon pharmaceutics for the next hour. He gave them a few Exwire authorization forms to fill in, which contained the choices regarding the meister they wished to achieve and told them to give them to him next Monday. She stayed silent as the boys and few others filled their papers immediately. The girl looked at the paper in her hand. She had never thought about the meister she wished to be. What would she choose? So many possibilities.

In breaktime, some of her new classmates approached her.The pink haired boy asked her sign and flirted while the blonde introduced herself. Shizuka was a little flustered to see Shima's flirting at her. "Uh, I'm Gemini. Why?"

"Awww man, we're not compatible...", Shima complained, before Ryuji grabbed him by the hair and dragged him away while Konekomaru apologized and introduced the rest of them.

"Please excuse our friend. I'm Miwa Konekomaru. The guy who was approaching you is Renzou Shima, and the one sitting next to him is Ryuji Suguro. We are from Kyoto."

"The three of you came from Kyoto? I'm from the capital, but I have been to many places overseas before getting here", she tried to be as hospitable as she could while eating her sandwich.

Konekomaru cleaned his glasses, "Wow, so you must know quite a bit, huh?"

"Heh, we have gone to many places. But I gotta say, moving around is kinda tiring. Not to mention, to adapt with locals. Quite a tricky case for me."

Konekomaru giggled and took his seat as class proceeded once again with the subject of seals until cram school ended for the day.

In the subject of seals, Igor taught them how to summon a demon, and Shizuka was quite frightened seeing his familiar. Then he asked them about their ability to summon demons and put them into tests by giving them their summoning papers. Shizuka saw Izumo summoned her familiars, two Byakkos successfully, while Shiemi was able to summon her greenman. Another red head also summoned her griffin cub. Until, Igor came to her side. "Well, how about you, Miss Lovegood? Do you have any difficulties in trying to summon your demon?"

"Uh... actually that's not the case, Neuhaus sensei. Is it okay if I summon her now? I don't want to make the other exorcists worried. I heard there are barriers here", she told him, and indeed. She could feel the barriers placed in the room surrounding them.

"Do you happen to have a familiar with possible human form?"

"I can't say, but I'll try." She gulped and took her breath. She held her summoning paper. "O the one who reign over sky, land, and sea... attendant of Hades, confidante of Persephone, I humbly seek for your presence. Appear thyself before me!"

The room was shaking for a bit, and fog surrounded them, then in an instant, a Greek woman with torch in her hand showed up.

Igor crossed his hands as he looked at the female deity. "Oh, you are able to summon Hecate, one of the highest levels in Samael's kin. Excellent, miss Lovegood! It seems there are many promising talent of tamers this year as well."

She perked at hearing his words. But she gulped as she looked at the barriers surrounded the classroom went wild and felt someone was coming. His energy started to get familiar to her. Mephisto looked around the room for the power source that triggered one of the barriers.

"Which of you caused one of the barriers to react?", the King of Time questioned them.

Shizuka rubbed her neck in embarrassment, knowing the mess she made. "Sorry, Mephisto. That was me. I summoned Hecate."

Mephisto looked at her then at the female deity who hold her hand. Interesting, he thought. "I see. In the future, please refrain from summoning high and middle level demons in class!", he scolded the little girl as he disappeared in a poof.

She was aware of her friends who were still looking at her in both wonder and disbelief. Igor had dismissed the class as soon as Mephisto showed up before. "I believe I owe an explanation, am I? Actually, I am a witch, but first and foremost you must know about me, I'm Wiccan", she admitted while Hecate hold her hand more firmly, trying to ease her tension. Their expression was apparent.

The Kyoto trio was stunned, Shiemi looked at her in awe. Izumo didn't seem shocked too much. Meanwhile, Rin seemed frightened.

"What's wrong? I'm not going to curse you to turn into a frog or anything! Don't believe in such stereotypes!", she huffed and sit, already dismissed Hecate before the other exorcist teacher saw her with the deity. Rin whined a little as his cheeks flushed, as though he was trying to apologize.  
She lowered her head in sadness. "Besides, being a witch is not something I particularly proud of. I basically don't belong anywhere."

Ryuji thought otherwise. "I think it's kinda cool. I bet you could teach a lot of cool stuff to us in regards to summoning!"

"Yeah, same!", Konekomaru added.

Shizuka raised her eyebrow. "You really think so? To people out there, they consider me a freak. My powers and sight are not blessings. I consider them curse", her grim expression returned.

Rin tried to approach her, something that took her by surprise. "Yeah, I get that. It sucks being called a freak..."

Then the bell rang, signalling classes were over for the day. The students went out of the room, returning to their own dorm. While she was bringing her bag on her way to her room, where she had put some of her thing, the other red head she saw at class bumped into her by accident. "Oops, sorry! Gotta get back to my dorm fast!", she said as she ran off.

She turned her head at the girl and called before she ran far. "Wait! What's wrong?"

"Uh, I have to get back to my dorm to messsage my big sister... I haven't spoken to her in almost half a month! I'm Emilia by the way, nice to meet you!"

"I'm Shizuka. Nice to meet you", she nodded. She remembered that the girl was in a hurry. "You better head back. I'm sure your sister is waiting."

"I know she is, she's probably pissed at me! Ciao!", Emilia turned and left.

She raised her eyebrows and went inside her room. As she flopped and lied on her bed, she shook her head. Too many things happened today, and it stole all her reserves. "God, it's a tiring day."

Shizuka huffed, and was thinking about calling her parents, but changed her mind. She decided that the call can wait. For now, sleeping is needed, she thought as she closed her eyes.


	3. Here I Swear

Vatican

A tall young woman was walking around the corridor of the grand building of True Cross Order. The woman had an unusual appearance, with voluptuous body build and brought a katana on her left hip. She met three figures with many other exorcists wearing similar uniforms as her were sitting surrounding the main three members of the Grigori.

"Shura, how is the observation on the Japan branch going?", the Paladin asked her.

She bowed to the Grigori. "So far my observations while I was undercover went well. Although, I have a news for you while I was watching the King of Time as well as the new cram school students."

"Oh, what could it possibly be? "

Shura told them, "Just earlier today, I saw a witch was enrolled by Mephisto into True Cross Academy."

The room went crowded. Many of them didn't believe the news they had just heard. The female Grigori shut them up to restore order. "All of you, calm yourselves!"

"Please continue, Shura", Azazel beckoned her.

"Thank you, Azazel-sama", she nodded. "During the lesson of Demon Circle Summoning, I saw this girl, named Shizuka Lovegood summoned a very ancient demon, and one of the highest levels in Samael's kin in her class. She summoned Hecate, the Ancient Greek goddess of magic."

They continued to murmur in wide eyes.

"Then I assume this girl is very powerful then", Lewin deduced. "How interesting. So far, there has been almost no one among our exorcists were able to summon such a powerful and ancient being. It will required so much work in order for Hecate to be summoned and making her our familiar, not to mention the rituals to please her and all."

"Yes, Lightning. Also... I saw the way the girl were interact with this demon", Shura went silent for a while. "She treated Hecate as though that demon was her friend, or even, her patron!"

"That's ridiculous! It's impossible! I have never heard a demon is that tame and friendly to humans before!", Arthur stood from his seat in rage. "A witch who is able to bond with demons? Such an atrocity!"

"For this once, baldy, I agree with you, but I'm not lying with what I have seen. It seems this girl... hold the same trait as Yuri Egin. I have no doubt that this girl might have more demons as her familiars in her sleeves. I have no idea why Mephisto enrolled her into his academy, but it seems... he is up to something as usual. I'll investigate further."

The Grigori nodded and whispered among themselves. This occurrence... "We understand. This type of witch is very rare. It has been a long time since witches were making alliance with us. Last time a witch joined us was almost 20 years ago, before the Blue Night happened. The mother of Katrina Groves, Sophia Groves was also a witch, but not as strong as this girl", Armumahel said.

"I'm sure you all aware, there will be many organizations after people with her talents, and the rumor has it that Illuminati has been searching for witches with powerful magic abilities to add to their military troops. This hasn't been confirmed yet, but it's best to be prepared. We are lucky that this girl is interested in joining us, considering how closeted and fiercely neutral the witches are. Perhaps... this girl... Shizuka Lovegood... might be able to become our aid in this incoming war. Dangerous secret societies are getting eager to gain more followers. We must not lose this opportunity. Every help from many sides is valuable. We have made our decision. I will send a word to Sir Pheles. If we want to make this girl one of ours, she must take her vows."

Japan

Mephisto was groaning as soon as he heard of the demand for him to brought the witch girl to the Vatican. Why the hell?! In this middle of the night?! Those old hoes started to get on his nerves. He went out of his bed and poofed to the female student's dorm.

Shizuka was sleeping in her bed at the girl's dorm when someone knocked outside her door. Turns out it was Mephisto. He waited patiently for her to open it, understood that she might still be taking her time to get up.

"Mephisto? What are you doing here in the middle of the night? The girls and I are sleeping here", she rubbed her eyes as she opened the door and yawned.

"I am aware of that, my lady. However the Order wishes for you to attend a special ceremony just for you", he replied, didn't have his usual grin on his face, and in fact looked sleepy as well.

She tilted her head a little to the side, became curious. "Ceremony? Just me?"

He only nodded. "Indeed... though I doubt it will be fun."

He poofed them there, with her fully clothed. He wore his exorcist uniform as a Honorary Knight, while she was in her sailor uniform, courtesy of True Cross Academy's members. She blinked, and when she looked around the room, there were a great mass of exorcists looking at her.

"We are in Vatican", she made a deduction as she looked at the Roman architecture of the room they were in.

"An astute observation", he replied. He had no humor to his voice, and in fact he sounded almost pissy.

She saw three hooded figure sitting on their respective seats on the balcony of what seemed to be a court room of sorts. Shizuka could feel the stares from everyone in the room. She laid her eyes to Arthur. The Paladin glared at her as if she were a bug he'd found crawling on the bathroom wall. She looked back at him in scowl, letting her ire show.

Most exorcists were looking at her in judgmental. The others were not really interested, but some people looked at her like she was a threat. She had already used with these kind of stares. It reminded her of her dark past. She looked at them without showing any expression in her face, before the Grigori coughed to get their attention. Mephisto stood next to her, one thing she was grateful for.

Shemihaza stood, "We will now begin! Shizuka Lovegood, you have been called here today to swear an oath. As a witch, it is required of you."

Azazel looked at her, "As such, you must take this vow if you are to proceed with your training and acceptance into the Order as an Exorcist."

Armumahel stated their terms, "Do you, Shizuka Lovegood, agree and vow to uphold all that the Order of the True Cross believes, puts forth, and stands for? Do you vow to never use your powers outside the realm of healing and defense? To not take up new contracts with other demons other than those under your current control? And do you vow to uphold the Order's stance on demon-human relationships? This went by means of no sex with demons and demons are tools for work, not pleasure."

Arthur approached her with a pen and a contract listing her vows.

Shemihaza spoke again, "Since, as a witch, you are immune to a Contract of Morinath, you must instead write your name so we know that you agree to these terms."

She wrote her name and stated her vows, "I, Shizuka Lovegood, swear to put the Order and all its belief as my top priority and guide. I vow to use my powers on a basic level and not making any contracts or relationships with any kind of demons unless with those of my familiars."

The Grigori nodded, satisfied with her agreement. "Very good. We hereby declare Shizuka Lovegood an Allied Witch of the Order of the True Cross!"

Mephisto scowled slightly, unhappy that they were meddling again just as he was about to looked after her training, and prepared a special plan for her in the future.

Suddenly Lewin showed his interest and called her in between of their meeting. He trotted over, smelling like a dumpster. "So, you're the little witch that's been offending Arthur since he heard of you! Hehehehehe... you're a lot younger than I was expecting!"

She looked at him in surprise, and covered her nose. She swore to the gods, this man was stinks! "Yes. I imagine you are one of the Arc Knights?"

"Yup! I'm Lewin Light", he lifted up his hat and grinned.

She merely nodded.

Osceola appeares behind him and lifted him up by his collar, annoyed at his fellow exorcist member. "Enough Lewin! Let her return home! She has school in the morning!"

"I have some more time to talk. What is your business with me, Lewin-san?", she crossed her hands.

"Huh? Oh, nothing! Just curious is all! Hahaha, it's not every day you see a witch rivaling Morgan le Fay in power!", he stated, making her widened her eyes.

Her eyebrows shot up so high, they reached her bangs. "What?! You mean, I'm equal to the legendary adversary of King Arthur?! I don't know if I'm that powerful!"

"You're harmless, aren't you? I'd hate to have to execute a child for overstepping her boundries amd breaking her vows", his gaze became serious despite the grin on his face, and Osceola shook him a little.

Osceola shook him again and scowled angrily, his patience ran thin. "I said enough Lewin! Leave the young chica alone and let her return to her bed!" He then looked to her with a soft look on his old face, "Forgive him, chica, he's a fool who doesn't know when enough is enough. You should return home and rest before you lose the chance."

She just looked at him then directed her attention back to Lewin. "If you really think that I'm harmful, don't be. I'm not going to do so here, and I don't have any intention for doing that anyway. Tell me, what is your reason that can prove I am that strong?", she looked at Lewin, her gaze was serious.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Hehehe, just work hard and study, kiddo! That should be enough!"

She looked at him for a minute, and nodded then went back with Mephisto, her familiars suddenly appeared by her side. She smiled a bit seeing Hecate and the other of her familiars came to her side. They must have sensed her discomfort. Hecate wrapped an arm around her shoulders and the others were hugging her. The sight attracted Lewin's attention. "Holy shit, amazing! An ensemble of spirits from the old worlds! I have never seen them protecting a human all at once before!"

Osceola frowned a little. "I would suggest your keep familiars on a tighter leash as well. Having them appear suddenly and without a summon does not reflect well on you as a potential exorcist."

"They are acting as my guardians, and have been this way since I was a little. I'll try to make them behave more accordingly next time", she looked at the two Arc Knights with Lewin clapping in excitement as she left, her familiars walked with her.

Osceola dragged the giddy Arc Knight away with him.

Mephisto let out a breath of relief. "Thank Gehenna that fiasco is over! I can't stand that Lewin! He's so damned nosy! And rude! And his hygiene is atrocious!"

Shizuka only snorted and smiled in aggrement. Suddenly she heard the other exorcists whispered here and there as she walked with the King of Time.

"Look, that's the new witch. What do you think about her?"

"I dont know, a waste of time if you ask me! A witch is a witch! You can't trust them!"

"Look at those deities! From how her familiars looks like, she's very powerful, just like Lightning said."

"That makes her dangerous! If she doesn't control her familiars, who's to say they won't run along!"

"No wonder the Grigori asked her to take her vow", an exorcist clicked his tongue at her.

"I doubt she'll uphold it! Witches are just like demons!"

"But it seems we can use her as a weapon. You know... to fight Illuminati!", another of them half whispered. Her eyes were wide when she heard them and glanced at those people from the corner of her eyes.

Mephisto glared at them and grabbed her hand, led her through the door to the academy.

"It's best to pay them no attention, my lady. They have nothing better to do than gossip all day. You are better than them and they know it!"

She smiled sadly, wrapping an arm around her body. "Thank you for encouraging me, Mephisto. You see, this is what I have always been dealing with since I was a little. It does painful, being scorned all the time."

"Hopefully it will end soon enough."

She was about to walked out of his office, but stopped for a moment to look at him. "Mephisto, I need to ask you something."

"Hmm?", he raised his eyebrows in interest.

"I heard something that those exorcists were talking about. Illuminati. What kind of people are they?"

"Oh? It's nothing to be concerned about, my lady. Just one of the wannabe cults that they've been hunting down. You best get to sleep! You have school in the morning, and I don't like tardyness."

She nodded and went back to sleep in her dorm, very much tired from the sudden meeting with the Grigori at the Vatican.

The next day, her friends saw her with tired face. Shiemi and the others were looking at her in disbelief. She had puffy eyes and dark lines underneath her green orbs. Shizuka constantly yawned.

"Sorry. I have trouble with sleeping."

They nodded but didnt press her for details, instead focusing on their schoolwork.

"Oh by the way, Shizuka, have you filled out the form Okumura sensei gave us? We must hand it to him tonight, in the old boys dorm where he stayed with Rin", Emilia questioned her.

Shizuka reached out for the paper from her bag. She had filled out only her biodata, but not yet with her meister of choice in the future. "I'm still confused. So many choices and possibilities. Actually, some things that we learned in classes have I already received when I studied witchcraft personally."

"Really?"

"Yeah, although... the physical lessons are quite hard for me, so... perhaps not those. I'm still thinking about it."

"You are powerful at summoning very high level demons. What if you choose tamer meister?", Konekomaru advised her.

She looked at him in grimace. This was what worried her. Her vow at the Vatican last night. When she called her parents earlier that morning, her parents weren't mind, but the other elder members of their family... they were not quite.

"Hey mom. Sorry for surprising you in such early morning", she started the talk by video call.

"It's okay, dear. What is it? Do you have anything to let us know?"

"Well, today we are starting our summer vacation, but we still have a camp for Exwire authorization exam, along with some classes. I'm afraid I can't get home. I still have some things to do."

"I see. It's okay, dear. Just do what you want to do first", Keiko looked at her gently. Shizuka went still as she half smiled. "You still have something on your mind, do you? You always make that expression when you are thinking."

She heard some unusual crowd of people in their house. It was highly possible that their other family members were listening to their talk. "It's quite noisy there. Is there a gathering in our house or something?"

Keiko laughed. "Oh yes. Our family from England, Greece, and Egypt are coming for a visit. It's too bad you can't meet them directly. They are dying to see you!", she directed her phone camera to some of them who were setting up the table for breakfast and laughing then waved their hands to her.

She laughed seeing their faces. "It's okay, mom. As soon as the camp is over, I'll go visit you. I will let Mephisto know about it later. Besides, the camp is held in the academy for a week, and it's just for us cram school students."

"What?! She joined those no good exorcists lessons?! Give me the phone, Keiko!"

Shizuka was surprised as soon as she saw the familiar face of one of their elderly members. "Grandma Phoebe."

"Shizuka, tell me if this is just a joke! Are you really joining the cram school?", she gazed at her descendant deeply through the camera.

"Uh.. yes. Why?", she answered.

"Shizuka, you must not do this! Do you know how dangerous being an exorcist is? They will put limitations on you and your powers! Keiko, you fool! You could put her in danger by making her exposed to those in the Vatican!", the old lady berated Keiko and Simon.

She gulped for a moment when one of her ancestors scolded her mom and took a breath. "I have already know that, but it is already something that I have considered. In fact, there is something I need to let you all know."

"What is it?"

"I was summoned by the higher ups in the Vatican. They demand me to take my vows. I can only use my powers on basic levels and not making any contracts with more beings."

Phoebe was horrified at what she heard from Shizuka. She quickly lashed out at her and her parents. "See what I told you? They put limitations on her already! Shizuka, quit what you are doing this instance!"

"No."

"Shizuka, why? Those exorcists would only use your powers for their own gains! I have already dealt with them long time ago! They would use you as a weapon."

"I'm aware of that. But I don't mind. Grandma, I'm still going to do this."

"Why?", she showed great distress on her youthful face. "Shizuka, are you not afraid of them making you unable to embrace your heritage and what is rightfully belong to you?"

"Grandma, I know that you're worried about me, but I will be fine. You have told me about your past with the Vatican dozens of times before, but you don't know if they are still the same in this present or not."

She slumped her shoulders in defeat. "That is true."

"I still have the graces of Hecate, Artemis, and the rest of the deities we are worshipping. Don't worry about me. If anything happens, I'll let you know. Besides, I'm tired of being alone all this time. I want to open myself to more people out there. I realized my parents are right. It's time to use my powers for helping people in need."

Phoebe and the other elder members were discussing regarding Shizuka's circumstance. "Alright, if that's what you want, we won't stop you. But keep this in mind, Shizuka, there would be far worse groups or organizations that would after you soon, so keep your powers secret. Be cautious. Vatican and True Cross Order are not the only ones who have plans for people like you up their sleeves. Also... beware of the Illuminati."

She reminded of what those exorcists were talking about. Illuminati... what were they? "O-okay."

"Sorry, Shizuka. We didn't mean to scare you. It's just a reminder. Whatever you want to do, as long as you are careful and you do the right thing, we are here for you."

She looked again at the paper. She wrote her choices. "I have made up my mind."

"Oh, what is your aim?", Konekomaru asked, and their friends looked at her.

"I would choose Dragoon and Tamer. I can summon beings like Hecate for sure, but I still need to build my stamina, which is important in order to be strong in fights."

"That's a good idea. After all, considering that you are calling high level demons, your stamina is important", Ryuji gave her a thumbs up.

That night, they gathered at the old dorm to gave their forms to Yukio. It was the first day for them to join the camp. The students were nervous to say the least. The students were separated to do their own business. The Kyoto trio were eating their dinners, while Izumo and Paku prepared to take baths together. Shiemi went outside to find some meals, while Emilia was having a phone call. Rin stick close around the dorm, heading to the bathroom as well.

Shizuka approached their teacher. "Okumura sensei?"

"Yes, miss Lovegood? Do you need something?"

"I hope that it's not too much, but I want to do some worship. Do you have any place quiet enough in order for me to do so?"

Yukio widened his eyes and cleaned his glasses. "Oh yes, Sir Pheles has explained it to me about your belief. A Wiccan, right?"

She nodded.

"Don't worry. I'm very lenient when it comes to religion differences. You can use some of the vacant rooms here and do your prayers or some sort. Go ahead, miss."

"Thank you, sensei."

She went upstairs to made a temporary altar. As soon as she sit, Shizuka did her prayers. She saw Hecate, Artemis, and Bast. "Oh, you came."

"It took you a while to see us", Bast crossed her hand. Her cat eyes were looking at the girl playfully.

"I know. Sorry for that. Since I'm staying in dorm from now on, I can't summon you leniently like in my house."

"But at least this time we can finally see you again. We miss you, little girl!", Artemis hugged her, making her giggled.

Hecate stared at her momentarily.

"I know, Hecate. You're not quite pleased when you saw the exorcists in my class that time", she spoke to the goddess of magic.

"Actually, it's not like that. I'm just surprised that you met my king."

Shizuka became confused. "Your king? Do you mean Mephisto?"

Hecate was about to answer her when they heard a screaming came from Paku and she felt a gruesome presence in the dorm. "What is that?"

"I have no idea", Bast responded as she sniffed to find out what's going on. "Such a foul smell! Who dare committed such an abomination by constructed a demon and summon it?!"

Shizuka heard some people were fighting downstairs. The sounds of broken glass and Rin's yelling was heard. Now there was a sound of gunshots. She had a bad feeling about this. "We'll talk again another time. I want to check out something", she dismissed them as she cleaned and rearranged the table she previously used as an altar, then ran out of the room.

When she rushed down the stairs, she saw her classmates were standing near the girl's bathroom. They were staring at Paku in concern.

"Shizuka, are you alright?", Shima questioned her.

"I'm alright. What's going on?"

They were just staring at Yukio who were tending Paku's wounds. She was injured, possibly from a demon attack.

"Paku was attacked by Naberius", Shima looked at the wounded young girl, followed by the rest of their classmates, except Izumo, who was nowhere to be found.

Shizuka went still hearing the demon's name, reminded of something she experienced during her childhood. The memory of her somewhere in the desert... encountered a demon. She suddenly felt tight in her chest and suffocated as she fell to the floor. Cold sweat smeared her face and her pupils dilated.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?", Ryuji checked on her condition.

Konekomaru looked at her more closely."She suffered from panic attack! We have to calm her down."

"One of you, bring Miss Lovegood to one of the vacant rooms and laid her there! Don't leave her side until I finish tending to Paku-san's condition!", Yukio shouted and gave them an order.


	4. A Fear Must Be Overcome!

"Mommy, Daddy? Where are you?", she looked around the desert as she laid her eyes to the view around her.

No one was on sight. The desert was unusually cold that night. Perhaps her parents were right. She shouldn't be getting out of the house, not after the sun was setting. She felt shiver down her spine as she heard a growl coming from somewhere in the desert not too far from her.

Shizuka looked behind her, and they were the most terrifying creature she had ever seen. They were two creatures, a dog and a man which looked like they had just come out of the grave. Some fungus could be seen growing on their bodies, and foul smell came off from them.

This was trouble; big hell of a trouble!, her whole body warned her.

She was running away from them as she went back to the village before she realized, the two were tailing behind her and in such a fast rate. They got her, and the rotten dog bit her leg while the human ghoul aimed at her arm. She screamed for help, someone! But no one came. Until she saw a black jackal growled so loud she could saw the dangerous glint in its eyes.

She thought that her life was done for. She was going to die here. Two ghouls were going to devour her alive, and now this jackal would eat the remaining of her.

Then came the unexpected. The black jackal attacked the ghouls mercilessly, ripping them to shreds. They were groaning helplessly and died when it snapped their necks. She was on the brink of losing her consciousness, then the jackal turned into a man with dark complexion and black hair, taking her away from the desert.

She shot up awake, coughing loudly.

"She's finally awake!", Rin told the rest of them.

Her friends crowded her bedside, as she laid not too far from Paku. The girl was bandaged as she was watching her, relief was apparent in her eyes.

"Everyone, give her some space! She has just woken up!", Yukio raised his hand, forbid them to approach closer. Her head was spinning when she tried to sit. "Take it easy, Miss Lovegood. Don't force yourself."

"What happened?", she groaned slightly as she laid back on her bed.

"You had just experienced a panic attack. How do you feel now?"

She went still for a moment, before replied, "I'm alright."

"Do you remember anything that made you feel this way before? You were panicking and showed breathing difficulty for around 5 minutes before you passed out."

"I remember. I saw you tend to Paku-san's wounds, just after she was attacked last night", she answered as she looked at the window. It was morning already.

Yukio analyzed the situation as he was looking at the girl for a moment. "Do you happen to have a trauma? You seemed to panic as we mentioned Naberius."

She grunted. "I do. I was attacked by ghouls when I was a little. That happened when I was in Egypt. But don't worry. This wouldn't stop me from taking classes at the cram school."

Yukio nodded. Suddenly Ryuji came up near the door.

"Uh... I hate to interrupt, but there's this young man knocking on the door since earlier this morning. He demands to see Shizuka."

She glanced at the man behind Ryuji. She smiled. "I know him. If you can, please leave us alone. I will be fine."

They were doubtful for a moment and eyed him curiously, before leaving the room. The man closed the door before turned into his true form : an Egyptian man with the head of a jackal, and walked to her bed. Paku was shook to see the Egyptian god, but he smirked and put a finger on his mouth.

"Hello Anubis", Shizuka greeted him.

"Poor girl. I heard about what happened to you from Bast."

"Yeah. But I'm fine now. Don't worry."

"I heard that you passed out after seeing the attack from... Naberius?", Anubis questioned her more closely. She nodded. He hissed slightly. "These humans. They misused the graces and knowledge given by the gods and created such foul creatures. How disgraceful."

"Yeah, I have to agree."

Anubis shook his head, "But you're okay, right? I can imagine you were passed out because you are reminded of your trauma."

"Actually it's a little embarrassing. I'm in the middle of a camp with my friends, but I guess some things are inevitable", she scratched her head. She reminded of what she saw in her dream last night. "The sight was so similar to where you saved me that time. You saved me from the ghouls that attacked me."

"And I would happily come to your aid, should you ever need me again", he crossed his hands, "Although, it might going to require some efforts. The barriers are quite strong around this area."

"Oh yeah, Mephisto built barriers here to protect the people from low to high level demons. But don't worry, I'll summon you if I need anything."

He nodded and nuzzled her gently on the head.

Yukio entered the room just as Anubis was going to leave. He was surprised to say the least. "What the...?", he wondered as he aimed his gun at the Egyptian god.

Anubis raised his hand at him. "Easy now, young man. I'm just here to make sure of my mistress' condition. And, you might want to reconsider pointing your weapon at me. I'm not malicious."

Yukio widened his eyes as he put his handgun back into the holster and looked at Shizuka. "Miss Lovegood, you have to control your familiars. I am aware that you are a witch, but remember your vows."

"I know, sensei. Sorry, Anubis was just worried about me", she spoke to her teacher and Anubis disappeared from the room.

She stood up from the bed and decided to go to the bathroom. She collected some of her toiletries and towel before heading outside the room. Yukio still eyeing on her condition from where he sat. "Are you going to be alright? If you are still sick, don't force your body."

"I will be fine. Besides... despite my frail physical appearance, I'm easily healed due to the magic that flows inside me", she got inside and get out.

After that her friends were returning to the cram school, and came the subject of Holy Scriptures. The teacher asked them to chant one of the verses from the Bible. Unlike most days, Izumo lost her concentration, and when she mocked Ryuji they had a fight, which displeased the teacher of course. The students demanded to come to the old boys dorm after the classes are over. After that, the other of her classmates then got their turns. Now, it's her turn.

Her classmates looked at her when she stood. She wondered. What's wrong? Was it weird to see a witch reciting verses from the Holy Bible? Well, their teacher clearly showed her dislike towards Shizuka. Just as Shizuka about to finish chanting the verse, the teacher stopped her abruptly, to her surprise. "You shouldn't be pausing so often during recitation! Try reciting them faster!"

She scowled at this teacher. Indeed she was still getting used to her new life as an exorcist in training, especially with her newly taken vow, but this teacher shouldn't be so harsh. She tried her best to recite the same verse, this time a little faster. Now the teacher seemed satisfied and let her sit back down.

She huffed and looking at her friends in exasperation. They just shrugged.  
After the class is over, she groaned. "God, that teacher is so annoying! I think I have tried my best to recite the verse, but she's so perfectionist!"

Rin nodded. "Yeah, I know, it's almost stupid..."

"Was it really that odd to see me to recite verses from the Bible? How... unbelievable! There are many types of witches out there!"

Renzou's interest was piqued. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, there are many of them. If you want me to explain their types, that would take days. But one thing you can make sure, most witches are really close to nature and elements of the earth. That would be include the spirits and fae. In some rarer occurrence, demons as well."

They looked at her, paying attention to her words.

"Demons? Really?", Ryuji raised his eyebrow.

"That is the type of Satanic witches. Like I said, witchcraft has many forms. A witch can choose to just stick to one type of craft, while the other can use more than one. Well, with the way our world turns now, you probably wouldn't believe me, but there are witches who are embracing the beliefs of world's main religions while still practicing their crafts. So, there are Christian witches as well", she looked at them with small smile.

"Then what about you?"

"I'm eclectic. That means, I can use more than one magic as the same time. I just need to adjust them to my needs. I worship many beings, but don't worry. They are not dangerous. Hecate, the one you saw during our class that time is one of them." She slumped in her seat. "I'm sure you must have some questions about me yesterday."

Izumo just shrugged and worked on her assignments. "Well, no, not really, everyone is tired lately."

But the others were did wondering. She could see that they have questions on their mind. "Actually I got called by Vatican."

Emilia widened her eyes. "Wait? You got called to the Vatican? What did you do?"

"Well, you know that I'm a witch, right? They asked me to swear my loyalty to the Order. I think they wanted to make sure that I can be trusted as their ally, so we made a contract. All to make sure that I can continue my training as an exorcist like the rest of you."

Emilia laughed. "They do that for all witches! My mom had to take the same vow when she joined the Order. And so did her great grandmother. It's required of all witches if they want to join up with them. Let me guess, they made you pledge allegiance to the Order and follow their rules of no socializing with demons or playing with your magic?"

"Yeah. I see now. I met Lighting, by the way."

Rin looked at her again after reading his book. "Who?"

"Lewin Light, one of the Arc Knights of the Order. I met him last night", she mentioned him as she crossed her arms.

Emilia wore a bored look on her face. "Oh, him. Yeah, he's a bit of a creep..."

The Kyoto trio were busy doing their schoolwork.

"He told me... that my powers are equal... to Morgana le Fay", she grimaced and shivered at the memory. Now she gained all her friends' attention. They were staring at her.

Ryuji shook his head and broke the silence. "I doubt you'll be that evil! Besides, you're not stuck in a royal court with all the politics! So relax a little and focus on passing your classes instead!"

"I know, but I can't sleep after I heard what he said last night. I know I can summon many high level demons, but I don't know if I'm that strong. Like all powers on this earth, you have no idea how dangerous magic actually is. If you are not careful with using magic, it can affect you gravely especially your empathy. Many witches turn evil after they learned witchcraft, and that would be the last thing I need."

Shima got to her seat and patted her shoulders to calm her down. "Only time will tell. Besides, it's not like you're fighting for a crown or anything because your half brother knocked you up! That story is fucked up."

She snorted, as the lesson of Demonic History started.

They learned about the Demon Kings. The book didn't show many pictures, but mostly stylized pictures that looked like they came out of a Medieval European manuscript, that is, very ugly.

Now they listened as the teacher explained about the top two strongest Demon Kings. They focused on the King of Time, of his history of involvement with the Order, and of how he was once known as Loki; listing all the old stories of the mischief he caused, from dressing Thor up in a wedding dress disguised as Freya, to how he seduced the stallion Svaðilfari in the form of a mare to stall the construction of a wall around Asgard to win a bet, resulting in him giving birth to Sleipnir, the fabled 8 legged stallion of Odin. Shizuka couldn't believe how... lively Mephisto was back then. Perhaps typical of demons. Nevertheless, she felt a little awkward to learned about him.

Shizuka's interest piqued up as she heard about the first and the strongest of the Baal : Lucifer. The book explained him as the most dangerous of the Baal, and listed the number of wars he had incited between different countries and religions in his bid to destroy humanity, from the crusades to the plague, which had been caused by Astaroth in his name.

Shizuka became more curious about him. Somehow there were many plot holes in history regarding him. As far as she learned, he had many callings in the past but the teacher didn't tell them any of them at all. What's more, about his motives behind the crime he committed! He was a demon for sure, but at least he must have his reasons, right? She raised her hand.

"Yes Ms. Lovegood?", he looked at her.

"Excuse me, I want to ask you. You see, I have heard some things about him from my family and what I learned about him when I was a little. My family as witches used to think that demons were benevolent beings, even viewed as gods."

"Yes well, not all gods are as nice as they like to have you think."

"I'm sure the same would go for Lucifer. He was viewed as a deity. What makes me curious, what caused him to gone mad and caused war against humanity?", she questioned him, making friends widened their eyes at her question and exchanged glances.

But the teacher didn't quite comfortable with her question and seemed like wanted to avoid the question. "No one knows for sure. The Baal are highly intelligent, cunning, and unpredictable, and the King of Light is no exception. But for as long as anyone can remember, he has been jealous of humans for one reason or another. Either way, he has never been on humanity's side, and if he were on our side, the Order would have never needed to exist at all. Now please, no more interruptions, you can study this subject in your spare time."

She only looked at him, then nodded and didn't ask anymore. But it was clear that she was not satisfied with his answer. Shizuka was so sure everything that happened was more complicated than the exorcists made them to believe. She was quite sure, something else is hidden from Exwires like her and her friends. She did know that he was their enemy, but wasn't it essential to learn about his past life before he became he is now? Was such questions really that sensitive among exorcists?

While they walked to Rin's dorm, her friends stared at her. They looked at her with both worry and apprehension on their faces. "Shizuka, I know that you meant well by wanting to learn more about our enemy, but I think you need to be careful", Ryuji said to her.

"Why?"

He looked at her like she had grown another second head. Izumo decided to intervene. "Your questions are sensitive topics among exorcists. Like what we have learned today, he did so many unforgivable crimes towards humanity. Also, don't you realized the way you speak? It's almost like you were challenging a teacher. You can get into trouble."

"But don't you think this is odd? I think there's so many things left unexplained."

"You said that you also learned about demons when you were a little. What did you learn about Lucifer?", Konekomaru asked her.

She looked at him in surprise. "Uh, I don't know if telling you this would be a good idea."

"It's fine. Just tell us the gist of it."

Shizuka furrowed her eyebrows. "We witches called him by many names. Morning star, god of dawn, liberator, friend and teacher, protector, and most importantly, keeper of knowledge. Truly different from what you most know about him."

"Really? Then I guess you witches know him as a benevolent figure."

She shrugged. "But again, I don't want to take a risk by asking so much questions about him. You're right."

When they arrived, Yukio scowled and punished them in the most painful way possible. Having Bariyon demons sat on their laps! Oh for the love of the gods, what kind of punishment is this?, she questioned herself as she looked at her friends while Yukio was gone to give them some time alone. He said he would leave them so they can cool off their heads but this was too much! Just like her friends, her thighs went numb after being sit on by this stone demon! She was so sure that she would be unable to walk for the next half an hour.

"My legs feel so numb", Emilia complained.

"Believe me, all of us here feel the same way", she gazed at Izumo and Ryuji who were still debating. Oddly, the Bariyon which was sitting on her lap seems to feel more comfortable and it felt even heavier than before. What a trouble. Even more, it seemed the demon have took a liking to her. The demon got closer to her belly and grunted a bit, which attracted the attention of the rest of their friends.

"How odd. That demon actually likes you?", Izumo gazed at her and laughed.

"If I were you, I won't laugh", she gazed back at her sharply, making Izumo shut her mouth quickly. She was looking at the demon and it was clearly trying to get her attention. Shizuka tilted her head and... pet it a bit, making him excited and grunted again while at the same time grew heavier for her legs to hold its weight. "Ugh, what a wrong move. I shouldn't have pet it from the first place."

"You really are a magnet for demons", Emilia held her laugh, caused her to scowl. Then, the room turned dark.

They were anxious. As Rin and the rest them got rid of the stone demons, they were trying to figure out what's going on. Yukio haven't returned either. What were they going to do?

Renzou turned on the flashlight on his phone, tried to find out what's wrong. But as he walked to the door, he encountered a creature then closed the door again. "I'm sure I have just seeing an illusion."

"No, you're not! You're definitely seeing something!", Ryuji talked, followed by the rest of them, feeling frightened.

Suddenly the door was destroyed into chunks and they saw what were attacking them: two Naberius.

One of them sprayed some of its blood and hitting them all. The rest of them except Rin was affected, suddenly went drowsy and feverish. Shizuka herself felt the same, until she shook her head and felt better quickly.

"Rin, you didn't affected in the slightest?!", Izumo stared at him. He shook his head. Then she looked at Shizuka. "Shizuka, how did you healed so fast?!"

"I used my magic to recover quickly", she answered, her voice was tensed. "But... the magic would definitely cost me soon enough."

Those two creatures charged at them, until Shiemi summoned Nee and built a barrier made of plants to covered them, at least keeping the ghouls from getting closer.

Rin smirked. "I'll deal with them. You can go out after I distracted these bastards. I'll catch you guys later!", he said as he climbed through the branches before disappearing and caught one of them following him. But still, a Naberius stayed in its place.

Shiemi began to feel her body weakened.

"We can't stay this way forever! We have to fight and help Moriyama-san!", Ryuji acted quickly.

"How are we going to fight?!", Izumo glared at him.

"We will do everything we can! We can't just stay here! Don't you see her?!", he pointed at Shiemi. "She works at protecting us with keeping us away from that thing! I think some verses from the Gospel of John might going to help, although I don't know if there's a fatal verse in it that would kill the Naberius. Nevertheless, we have to try."

"I will help you, Bon", Konekomaru joined him and started chanting the verses.

"Well, I'll be helping you guys with defense using my staff", he pulled out his Kr'ik and assumed a stance.

Shizuka looked at the demon which was preparing to strike them at any moment. Naberius... they would be weak if they were exposed to fire, just like any rot demons! She was thinking about summoning one of her high level familiars, then she reminded of an important fact. Dammit, her vows. She couldn't summon one of them now. If anyone saw her, she'll be in big trouble. There's only one way.

"Guys, give me some space!", she quickly created a fire using her magic after Renzou and Emilia gave her way.

"Shizuka-chan, what are you doing?", Renzou looked at her in puzzled.

"You'll see!", she stood as she grinned. "Magnus Ignis Pneuma... Appear yourself, Salamander!!"

Her classmates were staring at her in awe and astonishment as she summoned a large lizard. The size of that fire demon was just as big as her and her classmates, also looked like a dragon. It came out of the fire and nuzzled her on the head.

"Hello", she greeted the salamander and it purred.

"Shizuka, how... how did you summon a Salamander so easily? You didn't even use any summoning papers!", Izumo questioned her, still staring at her interaction with the fire demon. That thing was so friendly to her!

She turned still. "It's unfortunate, but I must not saying anything due to my vows."

"Huh?!"

She gazed at the Naberius. She could also feel that Shiemi was on her way to get unconscious. "Ask questions later. We have a problem."

She stood with the fire demon, taking her stance. She knew it, if she's hesitant she would not be able to move forward. Unknown to her, Renzou were eyeing on her in interest.

"Emilia, summon your griffin to protect Shiemi. She'll be unconscious in less than than a minute." The girl nodded and quickly summoned her familiar. The griffin cub stood by near them.

"Renzou, I'll help you fighting that demon! After seeing your faces when Paku got hurt, I know you're anxious. I can provide a hand", she stood next to him.

"Ahh, thank you so much, Shizuka-chan!", he made a kissy face to her, and she glared at him. He quickly backed away.

She looked at Izumo. "Izumo, I understand what you're feeling at the moment. You lost your confidence in summoning your Byakkos, but now you need to help too. Cast your fears! Have faith in your abilities! Otherwise, we'll be threatened when that thing gets us!", she tried to make her to get up.

Just as she said so, Shiemi fainted and the plant barriers disappeared. Renzou charged with his Kr'ik and stabbed the demon to give them some time.

Izumo also finally summoned Ukemochi and Miketsu, conquering her fear after seeing Shiemi was worried about her.

Renzou lost his spear from the attack and Shizuka took her turn. "Okay Salamander, attack that Naberius!", Shizuka ordered the demon. It rushed forward and breathed fire to fight the rot demon. It also wrestled with the Naberius to shred the demon, keeping it away from Bon and giving Izumo enough time to perform purification spell to fight the demon.

But the demon was able to escape their attacks and get close to Ryuji, preparing to attack him. All those around him were terrified, went to his way and tried to free him. Until he chanted the last verse of Gospel of John and it finally cast out from the room, disappeared in a smoke.

"Bon, are you alright?!", Konekomaru made sure of his condition.

"Don't worry, I'm alright", he replied.

Rin also returned to their side, defeated the other Naberius, with a kind of method unknown to them. Shizuka herself were still wondering how did he got himself unharmed from his fight. Soon they were surprised, Yukio returned to their side.

"Oh, all of you are able to passed from the attack of Naberius", he cleaned his glasses.

"Huh?!"

"Wait! We don't understand! What is the meaning of that?!", Rin became frantic and was about to asked him before Mephisto jumped out from the ceiling.

"Hello everyone!", he stepped on Rin.

"Mephisto?!"

"Good job to all of you! Actually this training camp is also served as the test for passing to gain the rank to be Exwire!", he tipped his head. "Actually while you were fighting, the teachers and I have been watching you, examining your abilities."

They widened their eyes at him in shock and even more when they saw their teachers came our from their hiding places; ceiling, walls, behind the door, and under the tiles of the floor.

"Now, the Doctor teachers will tend to your injuries!"

While they were preparing to get out of the room, Shizuka patted the Salamander.

"Good job, and thanks for helping us. Here, have this!", she gave it a piece of meat. It ate the food she gave graciously and purred as it disappeared from view.

Mephisto and the exorcists watched her interaction for sure. The teachers left the room, while he went to her way. "Bribery by giving it a food? Good thinking to dismiss the Salamander, my lady."

She smiled. "What better way than swaying low and middle level demons with foods?"

"From how you summoned it, I assume you didn't use your summoning paper?", he asked and she shook her head. "Well, at least... no one knows about your ability, right?"

"Don't worry, I'm no't telling about it to anyone. Not even my friends."

"Good. You have been brave, overcoming your trauma to help your friends", he grinned wickedly. She could only widened her eyes and stared at him. Not surprising, of course as the King of Time, Mephisto would know many things. She suddenly felt a little lightheaded. "Go ahead, and join your friends. I can sense the magic in your body waver."

"Damn that clown!!", Rin growled.

All of them were treated in the nurse room, where the majority of them were connected with IV drip infusions to help healing their bodies from the fight. Shiemi was still asleep, while Izumo sat near Rin and the Kyoto trio. Only Rin and Shizuka didn't seem to get the infusions. Shizuka was sitting near them, laying her head on the back of the chair.

"Shizuka, are you okay?", Rin asked her.

"I think you don't have to worry about her. I believe what she said now. She has accelerated healing abilities", Shima looked at her in interest while she slept.

She stirred. "I heard that." They shut their mouths as they saw here awaken. She was quite exhausted. "My body does heal fast, but that doesn't mean I'm resistant to injuries. Actually, my body is rather weak."

"Oh?"

"Usually every time I use my powers, I would passed out in a matter of minutes. I guess my body is improving now, but still I can't force it too much", she groaned, trying to make herself more comfortable. "I'm still drained from the fight."

"I agree. Last night was hard. I think I remember Okumura sensei said that we need to have collective responsibilities, so it means he was trying to tell us one of the most important qualities of an Exorcist: the capability to work together as a team", Izumo spoke. "I guess I'm the worst from all of us here."

"Oh you're not. Actually, the worst are them!", Ryuji pointed at Nemu and the hooded student. "They just stood at the sidelines the whole time! They are not doing anything to help!"

The hooded one just paid his attention to his game, while Nemu mocked at Ryuji harshly, enraged him further. Shizuka glanced at them with one eye open. Quite unusual bunch of people, she thought.

They immediately became aware that Shiemi was awakened, as soon as she sit on her bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Oops, sorry Shiemi. We forgot you're still asleep", Rin apologized.

"It's okay. What's happening?"

"Nothing. We are just talking about the test earlier. Sorry for being noisy."

Ryuji bowed his head to her. "Moriyama-san, thank you for protecting us during the fight against Naberius!"

"Ah, I'm not doing anything! I'm just helping!"

"But your help was greatly appreciated", Ryuji smiled at her. Shiemi replied to him with a grin.

Shima looked at Shizuka. "But I think we also need to thank her. Shizuka-chan have been working hard too to give us assistance. Besides, not all the time we saw a witch summoning a demon that easily in fights", he grinned knowingly at her as she was fully awakened. She raised her eyebrows at the mention of 'witch'. "No offense Shizuka. I just think you're really helpful. If you didn't summon Salamander, who knows what happened next."

She glanced at him and their classmates. At first she was examining the looks of their faces. Surprisingly, they weren't showing any fears or other negative reactions to her. She shrugged, still keeping her gloomy expression that she had been showing most of the time since the first day of class. "It was nothing. I'm just helping. After all, what's the point of being strong if not able to work together?"

"Thank you for your help", Ryuji thanked her. What's caught her attention was Shiemi's grin at her. She had to say, this was the first time for her to feel this... happy. She wore a small smile.

Mephisto summoned them all after they were fully recovered. It was related with the results of their test. "Congratulations to all of you! You have passed the test and leveled up to Exwires!"

They all rejoiced at the announcement. Shizuka herself was quite pleased with the news. This would be her step further to be an exorcist for sure.

"For your accomplishments, I will treat you all to eat monjayaki!"

"What?! At least treat us sukiyaki!", Ryuji protested, making everyone laughed. Shizuka just looked at the King of Time and he winked.

They went out and ate at the restaurant. Shizuka had to admit, the food was good. "Hmmm, these are pretty nice."

"You like the taste, Shizuka?", Konekomaru asked.

"Yeah. It's pretty good. I'm rarely eating foods like this."

"What?! And you called yourself Japanese? What the heck?!", Renzou stared at her in shock followed by their friends.

She shrugged, feeling quite relaxed and continued to eat. "Let me tell you this, I'm not pure Japanese."

Ryuji looked at her appearance, before concluded, "You have mixed heritage."

Shizuka nodded. "I think you can already tell from my hair and eye color. I can't say too much about myself, but I do have Western blood in me as well."

Meanwhile, in somewhere else, a young man with green pointy haired closed his phone. He had just been called by Mephisto. "What a coincidence. Older brother just called. Hmmm... this could be a good opportunity to kill time."


	5. An Unexpected New Figure (or Maybe Two Figures)

The students started getting missions after being promoted to Exwires. Now they were gathering after being summoned by Yukio for a certain duty. The Kyoto trio were talking with Rin about their missions, and they were complaining about the boring ones they had while Rin was quite satisfied with his accomplishments: he was not just able to defeat a demon but also turned it into his familiar.

"Hey, by the way, don't you think that the girls were pretty late or something? It has been a while", Ryuji wondered.

"We are very sorry for lagging! Izumo were helping me wearing this uniform", Shiemi ran towards them, followed by Izumo behind them. The boys were really pleased to see Shiemi's appearance in her new outfit. And Renzou, he was staring of course.

"Uh, where's Shizuka?", Rin questioned, and then they heard her complaints.

She walked towards them, grumbling. "That Mephisto... how unbelievable! I have never wear clothes like this before! Why did he give us girls this kind of uniforms? The upper attire is too tight, and the skirt is so short!"

The boys were so helplessly staring at her... body. Shizuka's appearance was so... curvy to say the least. Those poor boys could see her legs and rather obvious chest despite her petite figure. Renzou whistled in excitement and started having nosebleed, with Ryuji socked him in the head. Shizuka was blushing all the way, never thought that she would catch so much attention.

Yukio coughed. "Okay now, since you are already here, I would state the objective of our mission this time. There has been an apparition of a ghost, in the form of a young boy lurking a couple times in Mephyland. Our mission this time is to exorcise it before it can cause more discomfort in the theme park. Do you understand?", he asked them, and they nodded. He divided them into teams in pairs.

It was just unfortunate that before they leave, Shizuka yelled. "Kyaa!!!"

"What's wrong, Shizuka?", Konekomaru asked her, before they saw Renzou touched her butt and faceslap. "Shima-san!"

"Wow, you're so sexy! Such a sight to behold", Renzou looked at her body up and down, before he noticed her enraged face.

"Say it again?!", she looked at him, totally displeased and then... they saw her punching him in the gut, making him rolled over to the ground in pain. "Of all the things, what I hate the most from men is the perverted ones! You so deserve it to get a punch! You're lucky I'm not kicking you in more delicate parts, you perverted pink head demon!" She huffed and quickly walked away, joining Izumo and Shiemi.

"You know, it would be more helpful if only you can use that strength of yours in gym class", Izumo commented after seeing how much in pain Renzou was from receiving Shizuka's punch.

"I'm only resorting to use my strength when it's necessary. I have been using my whole stamina if you haven't notice that. Besides, I am used to kick the guys who were used to stare at me."

Ryuji chuckled. "Shima, take that as punishment from God."

Renzou shivered when he saw her glare and Rin can only commented. "I never thought Shizuka could be scary when she's angry." Shizuka snickered.

When they arrived, they began to split up to find the ghost. Shizuka was paired with Emilia.

She gazed at the rides inside the theme park. Shizuka just realized that, she had never been to this kind of place before even when she was a little. The thought made her a little saddened.

"The place is amazing, don't you think?", Emilia whistled at the sight.

She nodded. "I would like to play here when I have free time."

"Have you been to theme parks before?", she asked and the girl shook her head. Emilia looked at her in pity, wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "Oh, poor you. Hey, how about this? We'll go together and we'll have some fun with our classmates when we are not on missions. That would be nice!"

Shizuka slumped her shoulders a bit. "I would very much like that."

Meanwhile, Shizuka felt something in this area. She could definitely feel the presence of the ghost they were looking for in their mission, and already sure that at least one of them had found it. But at the same time, she felt something else. A terrifying presence, so powerful it shook her down to her spine.

"Shizuka, are you okay?"

"There's something wrong here, I can feel it. Can you sense it? Something else is appearing in this place."

"I don't sense anything."

Right when she answered that, they quickly heard the sound of crashing. Some of the rails from the roller coaster fell down, along with the sounds of the most demonic screeches she had ever heard. "Let's check the others!"

They quickly ran to find their friends. Meanwhile, Rin fought a young man with an odd looking hair. That guy hold his sword in his hand, making Rin's demon form exposed. Luckily no one realized how he looked like. Then he was rescued by Yamada. The figure that he faced turned out to be Amaimon, King of Earth.

Amaimon froze briefly, but he quickly returned Rin's sword, a little disappointment visible in his eyes. "It's unfortunate, but I must leave. Till next time!"

"Hey! Come back here!", Yamada shouted and cursed. "Hey, hide your tail! More people would come here!"

Rin quickly did as he said, but he was questioning in his mind. Why did this guy had a girl's voice?

They later met Yukio, and turned out that person was someone familiar to Yukio as the said person lifted up the jacket and showed up the body of a woman. She wore a very revealing outfit, just a bra and pair of jeans as she held her sword. Later, the teachers and all Exwires gathered, meeting with this woman.

"Rin, are you okay?!", Shiemi asked him, as the boy nodded.

"Whoa, who is this person?", Ryuji questioned with confusion.

"This person is the one who wore that hood and acted as Yamada", Yukio answered. They all were surprised.

"Hello everyone. I'm Shura Kirigakure, the Upper First Class Exorcist from Vatican", she showed them all her badge and the teachers were calmed again. But Shizuka... she felt there was something amiss on this situation. This person were on undercover, then it means...?! "Sorry everyone, but I have a little business with one of your friends. Don't worry, I'll return him to you after this."

"Wait", Shizuka suddenly moved forward, to her friends and teacher's surprise.

Shura recognized her appearance immediately. "Ah, I never thought we would met this soon! If it's not the young Miss Shizuka Lovegood! You are quite a talk among the exorcists in Vatican, you know."

Ryuji, Shiemi, and the others looked at the little girl in shock. "What the...?", Izumo wondered.

"Shizuka, what is the meaning of that?", Konekomaru asked her, but Shizuka ignored them all.

"Since the day I took my vow to join the Order and learning your ways of exorcism, I have been having this question inside my head. I am intend to be an exorcist, but I never thought I would attract this so much attention. From the first day of class, I have been quite suspicious of you. Seeing from how you dressed in your cover, I really thought that something is happening around here. Turns out, the Order found out about me eventually. Now, answer my question. You were the one who told Vatican and the Grigori about me, weren't you?", Shizuka interrogated the exorcist, her eyes turned serious.

Shura laughed unexpectedly. "You are so perceptive for someone your age! But I guess I should have known. Yes, I was the one who reported about your whereabouts to the Vatican."

Shizuka was gritting where teeth. "I knew it. Even an exorcist like you don't trust me, isn't it?"

"It's on the contrary", Shura answered her simply. "I know that you're a witch, but I think you're interesting."

"Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing towards someone who has reported to those old annoying rich people about me", she spoke quite harshly, to her teachers' surprise. Even Yukio looked at her in pity. Shizuka became aware of all their stare, and she looked at them with apology.

Her friends looked at her quizzically. Shizuka had gotten the attention of the exorcists around the globe? What... kind of person was she?

"It doesn't matter if you trust me or not. We'll talk again later. In the meantime, I have something important to tend to, started from talking with your friend!", Shura waved her hand and dragged Rin away as she put him in a headlock.

After she encountered Rin, Shura met Mephisto in his office. "Clown, you really messed up again, are you?"

"What do you mean by that, Shura?", he snickered.

"Don't play with me. First, you let that kid, Rin Okumura as the son of Satan live among the students and commoners. Then, I saw a witch was enrolled in this academy. What are you planning?"

"I am only planning on maintaining the safety and security of Assiah and the humans."

She snorted. "Don't forget Mephisto, the higher ups still don't trust you. I'm the inspector, so I will be watching you." Then Shura left the room.

Things got quite weird and unexpected after that. Turns out, Shura became their teacher, in Magic Circle and Demon Summoning, also swordmanship!

The Exwires became a little confused. She became a substitute teacher after Neuhaus sensei disappeared. And... when Rin appeared in class, late as always, he looked different.

Shizuka looked at their new teacher.

Shura knew that look. "I know what's inside your head. I have told you that you're interesting. I'm not thinking about you as a threat, as long as you're not hexing people and putting curses carelessly."

The girl was surprised, but somehow... She felt that this young woman can be trusted despite her own judgment toward her.

The time for summer vacation was almost here. They have no idea, what's waiting for them.


	6. Time to Act Up!

In True Cross Academy, many students were strolling down the stairs, talking excitedly with their friends. It was nearing summer holiday. Rin and the Kyoto trio were talking about their plans after the training is over, before Izumo rebuffed them. "Come on, buffoons! If you don't hurry up, we'll be late!"

"Shut up, thick brows!", Ryuji snapped.

They gathered in front of the train station, with Shura and Yukio were there.

"As you all can see, we are in summer vacation, and normal students will return to their hometowns. But for you cram school students, we will have some training camps in the forest sections for three days. Kirigakure sensei and I will be supervising you. In this training, we would be the judge on your strength in the first session, and then in the second session we would see how do you use your strengths in actual missions. Prepare your necessities a few days before we go to the camp site."

A few days later, they walked up the hills to the forest camp site. Most of them were complaining about the walk all the way.

"This is exhausting", Renzou whined.

"I feel like a soldier in training rather than an exorcist", Ryuji grunted.

From all of them, Rin was the only one who was excited with the trip. He looked around with awe of the view around them.

Shizuka was quite tired as well, but she didn't complain. She just looked at the place as she stepped up the stairs, until she received a call from her phone. Her friends immediately aware of her sudden behaviour.

"Hello? Oh, hi. Yeah. Don't worry, I don't think that you're late for the regards. Yeah, thanks for that. Bless you. Talk to you later", she smiled a little before she put the phone back on her bag.

"Shizuka, who was that?", Shiemi asked.

"Just one of my family members calling me. It's nothing much."

"You don't feel tired, at all with bringing that stuff in your bag? I imagine it must be heavy. If you want, I can help you", Renzou offered her his help, and she refused, to his disappointment.

"It's fine. Actually it's not that heavy."

"How so?"

"I'm putting a spell on my bag so it doesn't burden me too much. With it, I can put many things that I need inside."

They looked at her in slight jealousy.

"Damn, the perk of being a witch! If you can do things that easily with your powers, I would love to be one", Ryuji whistled in amusement.

"Believe me, it's not that special to be like me", she answered and continued to walk.

As they arrived, the boys were making tents, while the girls took their time to rest for a bit. She was looking at her phone, letting her parents know about her training camp. When she laid her gaze at their surroundings, there was a high level seal already put in place. Shura created it, no doubt.

The girls began to prepare to cook the ingredients for their dinner. Poor Izumo cut her finger by accident, gained Rin's attention and decided to join them to help in cooking. As when they tasted the food, they had a look of astonishment and awe in their eyes. Even Izumo admitted it silently. Shizuka tried one spoon of soup, and widened her eyes. "So... so tasty", she chewed the food while also tried to keep her composure. Rin smirked proudly at seeing her and the rest of their friends eating food he had made.

Unlike the others, Shizuka sat a little bit further from the group. She sat near the tent, watching them all chatting and threw jokes at each of their own. As she watched them all, she realized how much she had missed in her old schools. It was very rare for her to go on camps; not only her body was weaker than most people, but also her parents were so protective of her safety. The truth that her family constantly moving to various places also didn't help in the slightest.

She reminded of her interaction with those people of her age before she was here. At first, they weren't mind that she was around, and even felt grateful when she was trying to help them with all she could. But, as soon they knew who she really was, they quickly left and even pointed their fingers at her, even cursed her, mocking her as being the source of their misery since they knew her. All in all, she never got the chance to have a real friendship with anyone.

Those people in front of her were so odd. She knew even though they had their own struggles, they were strong in facing them. She was wondering if she could feel that way too. She looked at Rin. That boy was the most different from them all. She couldn't figure it out just by looking at him in a glance of course, but she could sense something inside him. It seemed that he hold a power of his own, and yet he enjoyed being around them. She gazed down at her empty plate. She actually still feel hungry, but all these thoughts were nagging her mind and made her lost her appetite.

Shizuka whimpered silently and looked at them longingly. She wanted to join them all, mingling around them, but would they be prepared to know who she really is when the time comes? It was like there's a barrier, bubble, or any of that sort that keep her away from them. Her world was different from them, that's true. Also, there's a line she couldn't cross no matter how hard she tried. But still, she still wanted to take that chance: having a few friends, the ones she could trust despite the cruel past she had. The hell with rules; the girl know that she couldn’t keep her status in the Order secret from her classmates for long.

Rin saw her in her place, and asked her which snapped her from her train of thought, "Shizuka, what are you doing sitting there? It's cold, you should gather around the fire. It will make you feel better."

"No, it's fine. I'll just stay here", she held her empty plate, ignoring the hunger in her stomach.

Shura observed the girl for a moment and stood then came to her. "Come on, it's better that you join us. After all, do you know that it's not good to be distant from your friends? Don't forget everything you have learned in class", she held the girl's hand, trying to make her stand up and sat near them.

Shizuka glanced at them, and they seemed to have expecting look on their face. Most of them were smiling, even Emilia stretched out her hand. Shizuka looked genuinely surprised and looked at the ground shyly before nodded.

"Good girl! Now come on!", Shura pulled Shizuka to sit next to her and Emilia. The other red head smiled in welcome. As she sat with them, she felt something overwhelming her chest, not painful but it was quite... weird. Was this how a camping feel like?

Rin suddenly stood. "Guys, let's continue tonight's dinner, to celebrate Shizuka's belated birthday!"

Many of them clapped with excitement, while the girl widened her eyes in shock. "What? How did you know?!"

Renzou smirked, "We asked Okumura sensei about the date of your birthday, and we realized that just now. May 24th, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but why do you want to do this?"

"You're our friend, Shizuka", Emilia replied, making her blushed. "Now come on, let's start the party. It might be late a few days, but we want to make you feel better."

"Huh?", Shizuka stared in confusion.

"Shizuka-chan, since you joined us in cram school, you always seem to be saddened by something. We don't know what you have been through, but all of us here are care about you and want to cheer you up", Shiemi explained, astonished her so much, a tear ran down her cheek.

"Let's have some drinks for this special day!", Shura raised her can of beer, looking obviously drunk.

"Shura-san!", Yukio quickly rebuffed her for not being a good example to them, making them all laugh. Shizuka smiled slightly. Perhaps she was not as lonely as she thought.

After all the fun of celebrating the girl's birthday, now the real deal began. Yukio explained that in this camp, they needed to find a lantern which only available 3 around the woods; the rules of this mission was to light it up while also calculated the timing. If the light was off or they lighten up the lantern near the circle when they got back after obtain them, they would be disqualified. The matches provided was only one and if they used it to light up the emergency firecracker, they would got help but at the same time, they would be disqualified as well. Quite a tricky thing to done this time. Many of them were quite uncomfortable with the fact that this woods were also home to low level demons, and the species they belonged to were unknown.

They stood near every corners of the protection seal, preparing themselves to find the lanterns. Yukio was in the middle of the circle, holding a gun, and as soon as he pulled the trigger in the air, all of them entered the forest.

The Exwires quickly swarmed by the demons in that forest, and some were chanted death verses to hold the demons off, like what Ryuji and Konekomaru did, while Izumo summoned the Inari gods.

Shizuka herself was already prepared for the worse that might going to happened. She had been preparing herself for all this. She was not that weak girl when she was a child and she would prove how far she had become now. She has had training from her family, and even briefly exercised with a certain vampire clan during their family's trip all those years ago! She wouldn't let them down!

"Ouch!", she yelped in slight pain and surprise. These demons looked like moths, so... it was definite what kind she encountered. Chuchi Moths, kin of Beelzebub. Shit, they sucked a little of her blood, and she could hear what's inside their minds.

"Such a sweet blood!"

"Blood of a pure human witch! Let's have more taste of it!"

"Heh, I won't let you drink my blood any further!", she retorted at the bugs and folded her hands. "Your Word is like a lamp to my footsteps and light to my way. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil!"

The bugs shrieked in pain then burst and gone as soon as she chanted the verses, but before she could sigh in relief, she saw a medium sized Chuchi moth. "Oh, really?", she groaned, but then she grinned. "Well, here's a surprise for you! Come to my aid immediately! Ray, cover me!!!"

A black dog, church grim came to her rescue and breathed flames as to clear the path for the girl. Just as she suspected, the moths drawn to the flames and scorched dead, while the bigger one fled. Now that's settled, she just needed to find the lantern. Suddenly Shiemi's screaming was heard and a chill ran down her spine. "That can't be good", she muttered to herself. What was happening? She might be a quiet one, but she definitely wasn't ignorant. She hoped that not only Shiemi, but the rest of her friends were safe.

She suddenly remembered something from their previous missions, and a thought crossed for a while through her mind, but the goal of obtaining this lantern seemed unrealistic. Just how big this lantern anyway? Shizuka shook her head, and looked at her familiar. The dog wagged its tail as it looked at her with its red demonic eyes. Actually Shizuka could have summoned Hecate or others of her familiars, but summoning very high level demons was prohibited. For now, this grim would do. She patted its head. "Hey boy, can you help me for a bit? I need to find an object here. Guide me with your nose."

It barked and walked in front of her, at least slow enough for her to follow. She grinned. Good dog, she thought to herself.

She moved through the forest, held nothing but a flashlight in her hand as her familiar loyally protected her with its flamed mouth and led her through the dark. Shizuka swore, she could feel that someone or rather, a few people were watching them. She glared at the low level demons which stared at her as she walked. To her, these creatures were not frightening in the slightest, but annoying? That would be a more proper word to describe them. She had seen many things much, much worse than them. But nowadays, nothing seemed to be certain. She was quite apprehensive when she felt that presence at the theme park. Who could it be, she didn't know, but she definitely have a bad feeling about this. Hopefully she won't face more dangerous demons too soon. She had too many things to worry about at the moment.

The dog barked loudly, alarming her about something. As soon she approached, she widened her eyes. It was the lantern, and it was humongous! Damn, how the hell would I be able to carry that? I can summon Anubis or the other protectors, but Shura and Yukio would realize I went out of the line!, she thought anxiously. Well, turned out, she was not alone in that place. There was the puppet boy too. "Oh, it's you, Takara-san."

"Heh, I never thought I would see you too, witch girl", he replied, mocking her just the same way he did to their classmates.

Her eyebrows ticked, clearly offended, but she swallowed her anger and tried to stay as relaxed as she could. "Well, I'm surprised you can find the lantern. This thing is huge."

"For sure. I'll carry it out of here. Stay away!", he bumped into her, pushing her out of the way.

She growled. "You know that you can't bring it out of here on your own! That lantern is gigantic and definitely heavy. I'm definitely can't, and I don't believe you can too! Besides, do you forget the point of this whole test? I believe Okumura sensei and Shura-san try to remind us the important point of this mission: teamwork!"

He scoffed, "You are covering something up, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?", she could feel her anger would rise. This guy tested her patience, honestly.

"Even though you are frail, you can summon one of your familiars to assist you and leave me. In my eyes, I see that you are frightened rather than being a helpless girl. You are afraid of pushing your boundries." She widened her eyes in shock as she gasped. How did he know?! Could he be... knowing about her from Mephisto? He snorted. "I knew it. You didn't do anything to deny every word that I said. Fine, then let's go."

She had a wondering look on her face. "Huh? What did you say?"

"You said that this lantern is heavy, then let's get it out of here. Actually I can get this out myself, but maybe... I would need your help."

She grunted, and proceed to approach the lantern, which surprised her as soon as she touched it. "This is no ordinary lantern. This is... a peg lantern."

"So?", he crossed his arms and said as though it was no big deal. "Don't tell me you're afraid, witch girl."

"No, that's not what is concerning me. This lantern likes to consume the energies of living beings especially those of human women as soon as it is lit up. I can't risk it to get me, not after those moths drinking my blood."

"But certainly you can do something about it! I'm sure you witches at least know some spells or sorts to seal it so it will stay still until we arrived at camp?"

Shizuka thought a moment, before she looked back at him, "Well, I guess I can try to draw a sigil on a sealing paper, but I would need your help to light it up. I'm going to be its bait and make it get inside the cart before we get going."

He just snorted. "Fine, then you better be hurry! Otherwise, I'll leave without you!"

"How wrong of me to think that you're started to be a nice guy", she grumbled as she pulled a blank sealing paper and drew a sigil for the peg lantern. "Okay, I'm ready."

Nemu then lighted the lantern, and noticed her presence, it quickly tried to chase her, but Shizuka ran faster than it as she rode the church grim and as soon as it was in the cart after failed to get to her, Shizuka jumped from the black dog and ran in front of it. "Stay in your place!", she commanded as she put the seal paper on it. It stood still, and the flame in the demonic lantern was fine, much to her relief.

"Hop on, I'll get us out of here", Nemu told her.

"How are you going to do that?", she raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Stop making questions and get in the cart! Also... keep your mouth silent", he suddenly changed his tone, making her curious but she didn't say anything.

She was near the lantern, trying her best to keep the fire on the lantern lit up until they were back at the camp. Along the way, she sat with her familiar, not looking at the the puppet boy. She was quite surprised. For a guy who seemed weak, ignorant, and rude, he was quite strong. Little did she know that Nemu actually summoned his Galatea familiar, in the form of a teenager sized plush toy looked similar to him to carried them both out of the woods.

When they arrived, Yukio and Shura seemed pleased that the two of them were back early. Izumo was the second to arrive, she looked exhausted to say the least and she crossed her legs as she was near the bonfire. Shura smirked playfully as she was observing the witch girl. She understood the point of the mission after all. Izumo also wondered how the hell she worked together with the most rude of their classmates. 

Shizuka looked at Nemu, and he was silent, also put a finger in front of his mouth.

Without Shizuka know it, Nemu was actually sending a text to Mephisto regarding the mission in their camp knowing that he was her partner in carrying the lantern previously.

Mephisto looked at his beeping phone, and he smirked.

The witch girl was quite helpful, I have to admit. Even though she is still putting some limitations to her powers because of her vows, she still know some things about her craft. Also, I saw more of her familiars. This time she relied on her black dog. If what you told me about the length of her power is true, then I'm not surprised at all that you keep close eye on her. - Nemu Takara-

Mephisto smirked wider. He was absolutely pleased to see further of Shizuka's powers. This attracted Amaimon's attention. "Big brother, what are you grinning about?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Amaimon. Just merely checking out my personal pawn~", he chuckled and put his phone back as he sat on his floating chair up above the woods.

Not too long after, Rin and their gang returned. "Wow, you're fast!", Rin whistled at the three Exwires.

"It took you long. I summoned my familiars for help", Izumo replied. "Well, Takara and Shizuka were faster though."

"You all able to get back here safely. Nice. Get some rest!", Shura smirked.

Shiemi began to complain about her neck. She looked like she was pain. Rin became suspicious, and Shizuka also felt that way about the girl. Something was terribly wrong here.

"Well, since all of you are here, then who lit up the fire beacon?", Shura questioned, much to their shock, then they exchanged glances.

Before they knew it, someone came out of thin air from the sky. "Go Behemoth!", Amaimon released his hobgoblin from its leash.

What the heck?!", Rin yelped.

Shura swung her sword to repel the demon and immediately summoned her own familiar. It was a snake, and it spread a high level barrier to protect them all, making Amaimon and the peg lanterns flew out and away from the group.

Amaimon got stuck among the trees, Mephisto was sitting not too far from him.

"I was about to watch this in grace, but I guess it can't be helped. Well, what are you going to do? This is hard, Amaimon", Mephisto chuckled as he drank his tea.

"I want to kill."

"No way you do that. Try kill even just one of them and I'll kill you myself", Mephisto threatened, making him apologized.

Shura sighed. "This barrier will keep all level of demons out. For now, we are safe. Gather around!" Many of them became terrified, knowing that the figure attacking them earlier was Amaimon, one of the Demon Kings. Shizuka became nervous. Of all demons, they had to deal with that agent of menace?! Shura began to pour triple C level holy water over the students, except Rin and chanted a protection verse. Yukio was somewhere in the woods trying to find a cause of why the Chuchi Moths fought against the exorcists, knowing that the forest was within the territory of Tamers.

While the other of her classmates were resting, Shizuka thought of the whole thing. This was a big trouble. She knew Amaimon from her family that he couldn't be underestimate even though he was the seventh in order of the Demon Kings in Gehenna. She had no idea how or why was he here, but one thing that matters, Mephisto must be behind all this. "That freaking demon", she gritted her teeth as she thought about the clown.

Rin and Shura were talking about something rather seriously. She didn't know exactly what, but she started to prepare for the worse. Amaimon definitely wouldn't stop approaching them to get what he wanted. Her family did have told her to prepare for fights, but at the same time she was worried. What was she going to do? She wasn't sure of her own strength. Especially her grandma Phoebe had told her to hide her powers, to stay low profile. She shook her head in confusion.

The others screamed when they saw Shiemi walked unknowingly, as though she was in a hypnotic state towards the edge of the protection barrier. "Shiemi? Where are you going?!", Rin tried to call her, gaining Shura's attention.

"Hey girl! Stop!", Shura ran closer to the blonde girl, until she saw something inside the girl's neck. Parasitic worm. And then Amaimon returned. "Hey, what did you do to her?!"

He looked at the young woman. "Oh, I made her a host for the hatchling of the female Chuchi Moths. It took it a while to hatch and become a parasite in her neuro system. Now this girl will listen to everything I say."

"What? Get her back here! Shiemi!", Rin shouted angrily as Amaimon held her on his shoulder and took her away. "That pointy head!"

Rin was going to chase the King of Earth when his familiar appeared once again, much to his surprise, before Shura drawn it off again and handed him his sword back. Rin ran out of the barrier and chased the man.

"Dammit! He acted like that again!", Ryuji cursed as he watched Rin ran into the forest to chase Amaimon and rescue Shiemi.

Rin recognized the guy when he saw Amaimon. He was the one Rin encountered back in the theme park. Just before Rin get closer to Shiemi, Amaimon made the most outrageous statement: he was going to make Shiemi his bride much to Rin's shock. Rin watched him chanted the vows of marriage, and Shiemi nodded. Rin quickly batted him on the head with his sword before Amaimon kissed the girl. This resulted in Amaimon punched him and thrown Rin across the forest before stepped on him and destroyed some parts of the ground, with the other Exwires watched their fight.

Ryuji lost his patience and ran after him to help Rin. "Hey, what are you doing? Don't cross the barrier!", Izumo called him.

"Bon, calm down!", Renzou held him on the collar of his uniform.

"Don't stand in my way!", Ryuji got loose and ran after Rin. Renzou and Konekomaru had no choice but to follow him suite, much to Izumo, Shizuka, and Emilia's shock.

"Are you kidding me? Stop! You'll get killed!", Izumo groaned in annoyance seeing them left.

Shizuka looked genuinely astounded, and wondered at the same time. They were not going to stand against Amaimon, yet they went to help Rin and Shiemi either way. How could they be so... fearless? She grunted, cursing her own indecisiveness.

Amaimon floated above Rin who was bruised and battered. "Aren't you going to save this girl? I thought she's important."

"Shut up!", he cursed.

Amaimon shrugged. "Fine. Then I'll just take one of her eyeballs."

"What?! Stop!!"

Amaimon was about to do so, when he saw a fire beacon fired towards his way and he saw it from the corner of his left eye. It was Ryuji.

"Don't ignore us. We want to fight too!", Ryuji taunted the King of Earth. Renzou and Konekomaru had arrived as well, while Emilia took a look, trying to help them too. "Okumura, run away while there's still chance!"

"Get away! I have to save her! Don't mind me!"

Both unexpected and funny thing happened. Konekomaru released his beacon by accident, and it hit Amaimon right on the horn, making it puffed up. They stunned at the whole incident. Then Renzou began to laugh. "It looks like a broccoli!"

Amaimon who looked annoyed immediately then kicked him on the stomach and sent Renzou fly hitting a nearby tree. Konekomaru stood in front of Ryuji to defend him, and Amaimon broke his arm in just one touch, making him yelped in pain. Finally, Amaimon held Ryuji on the neck.

Shizuka couldn't ignore her fears anymore. She could hear how loud the fight became, and she decided to rush over, trying to look at the situation.

"Hey, where are you going?! Do you want to die?!", Izumo yelled. "You are just the same like those fools!"

"I would rather help them than staying here", she said stoically and fled, leaving her alone with Nemu. As she watched them all, she widened her eyes. Their friends were in bad condition. Renzou and Konekomaru were hurt from Amaimon's attacks, and now the King of Earth almost choked Ryuji, making him coughing blood.

"Stop!!", Rin stood.

Yukio was on the other side of the forest. "Brother, don't use the sword. It's a trap!"

This is my chance!, she thought as she turned closer. She shot a plasma ball towards Amaimon to see his reaction. All of them surprised immediately.

"What was that? Where did that come from?", Konekomaru questioned in confusion.

Shizuka groaned. Amaimon's grip on Ryuji's throat was strong. Then she had no choice. She moved swiftly and flew in the air as she came out of the woods, making her almost hard to see by the others in the area.

Amaimon looked at his waist. "What the-? A water belt?"

"Neith Whip!!!"

The water belt around his waist tightened and Amaimon was thrown across the other side of the forest, making him let go of Ryuji, but he still held Shiemi on his shoulder. He looked around, trying to find the one who interrupted him.

"Tch! You still wouldn't let Shiemi go, aren't you? Well, at least that attack had managed to release Ryuji."

"This is the first time someone manage to throw me off", Amaimon muttered as he looked at her.

"What?! Shizuka!?!?!", the Kyoto trio, Rin, and Yukio who were dumbfounded now saw her stood in front of Rin and Ryuji.

Mephisto's attention was drawn to her and he laughed as he clapped. "Wow! What a wonderful surprise! You finally came out of your bubble, my dear."

Shizuka stood straight looking at the Demon King. Her teeth gritted and eyes sharp; in fact her eyes turned into entirely something else. They turned into demonic slits. "You have hurt these people. That is something that I can't tolerate. Do you really think... you can treat humans like toys?! I am very sorry, but I won't let you do that! I won't let you hurt my friends any longer!", she said as she assumed a stance, ready to defend them, her precious ones.


End file.
